
by C. S. Benoit
Feed him to the dungeon! Torn from his happy life in Texas, Kik is dropped into the lower floors of an unforgiving dungeon. He's branded with an ancient mark that grants him the Ghost Art and thrusts him onto the empire's ruling council, but every use of its power consumes the memories that make him who he is. Kik must navigate the dungeon to reach the surface where his existence is a geopolitical event, not because he's powerful but because everyone knows someday he will be. The only way Kik can survive in a world he barely understands is by finding the weaknesses others overlook and turning impossible odds in his favor, forcing everyone to account for an unpredictable new player in the balance of power. Maybe then, he can survive long enough to return home. What to Expect: Balanced Magic System and Creative Combat: The Eight Arts and Law of Counters keep Isacar from falling into chaos. Elemental weaknesses, fight IQ, and rank decide the outcome here. Competent MC: Kik doesn't win because he's the strongest. He survives by breaking down his enemies, exploiting weaknesses, and creating solutions nobody sees coming. Earned Progression: Physically and psychologically grueling abilities that can make you powerful or leave you walking around like a ghost. Hybrid Fantasy: Medieval castles and knights in armor collide with a new culture filled with runway fashion, men in suits, and nightclubs. 2000-3000 words per chapter (Chapters 22, 27, and 36 are a little longer.) New Chapters Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 2 Oct 2026, 05:49 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 05:49 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Not enough recent follower history to estimate a shadow rank yet.
beats 82% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 15% of similar stories
Hidden gem — exposure is the bottleneck
Readers who find this story follow it at a high rate; there just aren't enough of them. In our cohort data, near-daily posting lifted the odds of reaching 25 followers from ~0% to 17% — more chapters, shoutout swaps and ads buy the eyeballs this conversion deserves.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 20–49 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.
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